


feelings? what are those?

by joyfulwriting



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Light Angst, M/M, Meet-Cute, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-10-22 02:31:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17654342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joyfulwriting/pseuds/joyfulwriting
Summary: Cheesy romantic subplots are only things of romance novels and romcoms, unless of course you’re Tadashi and Kei





	1. the meet cute

**Author's Note:**

> First I wanna dedicate this to the 2d thirst gc on Twitter, y’all are the real ones for helping me out! And of course dedicated to anyone who likes and supports this, my first college au and hopefully it’s a hit! This is where our two future lovers first meet, enjoy!

Meet cutes were a thing of romance novels and romantic comedies, not of real life, and yet, Yamaguchi Tadashi was about to have one of his own. He just didn’t know it yet. 

Of course, he happened to be talking to his best friend, Yachi Hitoka, about a romance novel she’d just finished, and that’s how he knew what that phrase meant. Apparently it was when the two main lovers meet for the first time in a cute way. Yamaguchi thought it was cheesy, but he too also enjoyed the occasional romcom every once in a while, so he couldn’t judge. 

They were talking about this as they stood in line at their favorite (and only) coffee kiosk on campus. It was their favorite only because of the baristas, Tanaka and Nishinoya. They were funny, and they could do really cool latte art, which was a nice thing when you had a morning class. Nothing like seeing cute little bunny art in your coffee at 8 am. 

“Meet cutes happen in real life too, Tadashi. You just haven’t experienced it yet.” Yachi hummed as she watched Tanaka make little swirls in her coffee. “And when it DOES happen, you’ll be saying, ‘Oh my god Hitoka, you were right! I’ll never doubt you again!’” 

Yamaguchi snorted and took his coffee, handing over the dollar fifty to Nishinoya. “Or it’ll never happen, and I’ll meet my future boyfriend in a normal way.”

“But what’s the fun in that?” She shrugged and fell into step next to him, pulling her coat around her tighter. “Jeez, It’s so cold..!”

He nodded and sipped his caramel macchiato, appreciating how it filled him up with warmth on this especially cold winter morning. Morning classes were hell, the only upside being that he shared it with Yachi, and that made it all worth it. The rest of the day he didn’t have anyone else, but he was a little more awake then anyways. 

It had just snowed the day before, so he and Yachi shuffled through the path to the main building, trying not to slip and fall. They were chatting about plans they had for the weekend, and for the upcoming winter break (what they were going to do while they were home, things like that), when it hit him, like something quite literally smacked him in the face. 

It was soft, and when it pulled it off, he realized it was a scarf. Navy blue in color with baby blue stripes. Who had this come from? Was anyone looking for it? 

“Oh, that’s a nice scarf!” Yachi commented, looking around as well. “I wonder who it belongs to.” She hummed. 

“I don’t know, it doesn’t seem like anyone’s looking for it.” He furrowed his brows, folding it carefully and putting it in his bag. Might as well keep it safe for right now, he didn’t have time to run to the lost and found at the moment. “I’ll figure it out, cmon Yacchan, don’t wanna be late.” And with that, they continued on, sighing with relief as they were hit with the warmth of their classroom. They sat down, met with the smiling face of their student teacher, Sugawara Koushi. 

Sugawara was probably the nicest person Yamaguchi had ever met, other than his friends, and maybe that was because they were sort of close in age. His lectures weren’t boring, and the workload (at least for that class), wasn’t too much. Yamaguchi took out his notebook and a pen, ready to take notes, but he couldn’t help think of the scarf, and who it might belong to. 

***

Meanwhile, across campus, Tsukishima Kei’s neck was extremely cold. 

He hadn’t noticed that he’d lost his scarf until he got to his class, when he was getting his laptop out and saw that his scarf wasn’t in his bag. He rummaged around in it for a minute, and then began to panic. Where was it??

“Hey, Tsukishima, you good?” 

Ah, the bane of his existence. He looked up to see Bokuto Koutaro looking down at him on his way to his seat, his head cocked to the side. “I’m fine, just looking for something.”

“You look kinda freaked, oh! I can help if you want! I happen to be an expert searcher!” Bokuto grinned, getting down on his hands and knees. “What are we looking for?”

Tsukishima sighed. “My scarf, I lost it and I’m not sure where it went.”

“Huh, well I don’t see a scarf anywhere around here, maybe it got blown away outside?”

Great, perfect, of course it would have. The birthday gift he’d gotten from his mother had gotten lost and he had no idea where it was. Defeatedly, he sat back up straight, though slumping a little. What was he going to do?

“Hey, don’t sweat it Tsukki! I’m sure it’ll turn up, I’ll have everyone be on the lookout!” Bokuto reassured him, sitting in his seat as well. Yeah right, Tsukishima wasn’t holding his breath. 

 

After morning classes, he met up with the rest of their ragtag little group. Bokuto and Kuroo Tetsuro came waltzing into the lunch hall, with their friends Oikawa Tooru and Iwaizumi Hajime in tow. Tsukishima wasn’t exactly fond of Oikawa, but Iwaizumi was okay. Next to him, Kageyama Tobio, groaned in annoyance. Kageyama wasn’t fond of Oikawa, either. 

“Heyyy Tobio-chan.” Oikawa drawled, plopping down in a chair next to him, Iwaizumi sitting next to Oikawa. “Someone doesn’t look happy to see me.”

“I’m not.” Kageyama deadpanned, focusing on stabbing a crouton from his salad with his fork. 

“Okay okay guys! Focus, we have a red alert.” Kuroo cleared his throat and held up his notebook, where a crudely drawing of a scarf was. It had been scribbled in with blue pen. “This is what we’re looking for!”

Iwaizumi raised his hand, as if he was in class. “What the hell is that?”

Bokuto frowned. “It’s a scarf! Duh.”

“It doesn’t look like a scarf.” Kageyama chimed in. 

“Well it is!” Kuroo huffed. “I didn’t have a light blue so maybe that’s why you can’t tell.”

“There’s a reason you’re studying to be a vet and not studying art, Tetsuro.” Oikawa snorted, snickering softly. 

 

***

Unbeknownst to them, sitting a mere few feet away, Yamaguchi was fretting over what to do with the scarf currently sitting in his bag. Yachi sat next to him, while his other friends, Kenma Kozume, and Hinata Shoyo, sat across from him. Kenma was typing in his phone, humming softly to himself while Hinata ate out of his bento box. 

“I say just keep it! I mean, free scarf right?” Hinata chuckled. Yamaguchi pushed him lightly, sighing. “What? I’m just kidding, for the most part.”

“Just turn it into the lost and found, I’m sure whoever lost it will be searching for it.” Yachi suggested, sipping her juice. “It’s what you’d want someone to do if it was your scarf, right?”

Yamaguchi nodded, sighing softly. He was probably making way too big a deal out of this, but if it were him, he’d miss it, especially on a cold day like this. Plus, who knew it If was meaningful in some way?

“Whaddya think, Kenma?” Hinata asked, with his mouth full. 

Kenma shrugged, looking up from his phone slightly. “You were coming from the coffee kiosk right?”

“Yeah..” Yamaguchi nodded.

“Maybe the baristas might know who it belongs to, it’s worth a try” 

Yamaguchi blinked. That was actually a good idea, after all, Tanaka and Nishinoya saw lots of people, they might know. “That’s.. a good plan! Thanks Kenma!”

Kenma nodded and got up, slipping his phone in his pocket. “You’re welcome, I’ll see you guys later.”

“Going to see your boooyfriend?” Hinata teased, and Yamaguchi swore he could see a light dusting of pink on Kenma’s cheeks. 

“Maybe.” He waved to them and walked off, over to Kuroo’s table.

Yamaguchi sighed. “I sure hope whoever lost it can wait until tomorrow until they get it back..”

Yachi laughed and patted his shoulder. “It’ll be okay Tadashi, you can let them know how apologetic you are tomorrow.”

***

Tsukishima headed to the kiosk early that next morning, wanting to beat the rush before classes. There were only a few people there, one being Shimizu Kiyoko, one of the student teachers in one of his classes. Tanaka was showing off a new trick he’d learned, while Nishinoya was talking to a somewhat tall guy with a cowlick. 

Noya spotted him out of the corner of his eye as he approached, and waved enthusiastically. “Hey, Tsukishima! Yama here found your scarf!”

Wait, what? 

As he walked closer, the guy turned around, and Tsukishima’s heart did a little bit of a flip. He had soft, brown eyes and almost olive colored hair. He had freckles dotting across his nose and his cheeks, and Tsukishima had never really liked freckles, but this boy wore them quite well. He smiled at Tsukishima, his hand outstretched with the scarf in it. “Hey! I found this, and I was agonizing about what to do, ah, anyway, here you go!” 

Tsukishima nodded at him and took it back from him, their hands touching for a brief moment. “Thanks, I appreciate it.”

The boy nodded, smiling. “You’re welcome! I even washed it too, it had been sitting in my bag and god knows what’s in there, I rinsed it in a gentle cycle and—“

As he listened to him talk, he noticed that it did smell really good. Like, lavender maybe? He subtly brought it up to his nose, taking a sniff, and then looking back at the boy who was still talking. He’d taken the time to wash it, even though he didn’t have to, just because he had been afraid he’d dirtied it? That was.. really nice. “Um, thank you, you didn’t have to do all that.”

“No, but.. I wanted to, because I know if it were me, I’d want someone to take care of it.” He smiled and extended his hand again. “I’m Yamaguchi Tadashi, and you?”

Tsukishima looked at his hand, and then back up at the boy now known as Yamaguchi. He tentatively took it his hand and shook it. “Tsukishima Kei.”

Yamaguchi grinned and shook his hand, taking his coffee when his name was called. “Nice to meet you, Tsukishima. Well.. I’ll see you around!” He waved and let go, walking off, leaving Tsukishima standing there, a little dumbfounded as his heart was still trying to beat out of his chest. What the hell??

 

Meanwhile, Yamaguchi pulled his phone out quickly and called Yachi, who was back at her dorm. They only had class every other day. 

After a minute, Yachi answered, though rather groggily. Oops, she must’ve still been asleep. “Tadashi..?”

“Hitoka, I think I might’ve just had a meet cute.”


	2. longing and denial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite them just meeting, neither of our boys can seem to get the other out of their heads. But will either one of them decide to go for it, or let things be?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I got such positive feedback, chapter two is finally here! Updates might be slow, bc school, but I will try to update as often as I can!

Needless to say, the reaction Yamaguchi had gotten from Yachi was exactly as he had predicted, and she excitedly squealed into the phone. 

“Oh my god!! Wait, what happened??” She pressed, apparently wide awake now. 

He sighed as he continued to his class, taking sips of his latte every so often. “So, I was asking Yuu about the scarf, and then the guy who owns the scarf shows up!”

“Is he cute?”

Yamaguchi blushed as he remembered the way.. Oh, what was his name? Tsukishima? Yeah, that was it. Anyway, he remembered how Tsukishima’s brown eyes bore into his own, looking at him with a look he couldn’t really quite place. Was it curiosity? Or did he find it weird that he washed the scarf before returning it to him? Yamaguchi just thought it’d been the right thing to do, in case it had gotten dirty in his bag. 

“—Earth to Tadashi, hello?”

“H-Huh? Oh, sorry.. Um, he is cute, yeah.” His cheeks got redder, his face feeling quite warm despite the rest of him feeling cold. Jeez, he had just met the guy and all of a sudden he was thinking about his eyes? Was that weird?

“Hm,” Yachi hummed. “On a scale of one to ten, how cute?”

Oh gosh, how was he supposed to answer that? He’d just met him, but he was extremely attractive. But he didn’t want to be weird and outright say a ten, even if it was true. “Um.. like, a nine, nine and half?”

Yachi hummed in approval. “I’ll take it, what does he look like?”

“He’s got blonde hair, it looks fluffy.. brown eyes, and he wears glasses. He also looks like he’s a silent strong type.” 

“Ooh, he sounds like the hard to get type of person.”

He chuckled and shook his head, dumping his empty cup in the trash. “I think your head is too full of romance tropes.”

Yachi chuckled softly on the other end. “It’s not my fault we watch and observe movies in my film class, I have a lot to think about!”

“Alright alright, I’ve gotta go.”

“I expect to be hearing more about mystery guy!”

“We’ll see.” He chuckled and bid her goodbye, sliding his phone in his pocket as he got to class, sitting in his seat. English was one of his more laid back classes, and he had it with Hinata, so that made it fun too. The ginger waved at him from their saved seats, moving his bag off the empty seat. “Hey.”

“Hey Yamaguchi!” He smiled and leaned back. “Ohh, so did you find the scarf owner? Has the mystery been solved?”

“It has, and the scarf has been returned.” He sighed and got his stuff out. “I feel a lot better about it now.”

He chuckled and pat his back. “See? You were freaked for nothing, now you really don’t have to worry!” 

Yamaguchi chuckled weakly and nodded, unable to get Tsukishima’s face out of his head. See, with Yamaguchi, he developed crushes on people very quickly. It wasn’t his fault, he was just a bit of a hopeless romantic, and this time was no different. He had a big heart, and he’d been told that in the past, and of course he’d been told that he’d make a wonderful boyfriend one day (mostly by his mom). It’d just never really happened for real before. 

Plus, Tsukishima was extremely good looking, anyone would’ve been able to see that.

...This was going to be a long class.

 

After class, Yamaguchi was headed back to the dorm he shared with Hinata, humming softly to his music that was coming through his earbuds. Hinata walked next to him, his eyes glued to his phone. Yamaguchi looked down at him, smiling knowingly. “You texting him?”

Hinata yelped and nearly dropped his phone, his cheeks flaming red. “I-I don’t know who you’re talking about!”

The “him” that Yamaguchi was referring to was a guy that Hinata had met over a dating app. The redhead had decided “fuck it”, essentially, and had signed up for one. A week in, he’d gotten a message from a guy with the username ‘vball_nerd25’. According to Hinata, the conversation had lagged a bit at first, but it had picked up when they’d started talking about hobbies, which led to talk about volleyball, and it snowballed from there. Now it could only be assumed that whenever Hinata was texting someone, it was who their friend group had affectionately dubbed his “volleyball boyfriend”. 

“He still won’t send a picture to you?” Yamaguchi asked, ignoring his protests. 

Hinata sighed and shook his head. “No, not a full one anyway. I’ve seen blurry pictures of the side of his face, and the top of his head from Snapchat, so at least I know he’s a real person.” He groaned. “Tobio’s impossible.”

“Tobio?” Yamaguchi chuckled. “So you’re on a first name basis now huh?”

“Yeah, I asked and he said he was cool with it.” He slid his phone back in his pocket, pouting. “Why are relationships so hard?” He whined. 

“I guess I wouldn’t know.” He chuckled lightly, though a bit longingly at the same time. “Maybe we should give up on other guys completely and date each other.” He teased. 

Hinata laughed, shoving him gently. “Nah, no way! I feel like we’re too similar, we’d get bored of each other.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. You’re also not my type.” 

He gasped in mock hurt. “What?! Well, what is your type then, Mr. Picky?”

Yamaguchi laughed and glanced off into the distance longingly. 

“Blondes.”

***

Tsukishima wasn’t faring any better, for the record.

All. Morning. Long, he had been stuck imagining Yamaguchi’s face in his head. His smile was so pure, and so bright, like looking at the sun. Gah, this was so unlike him, he didn’t get feelings, or develop crushes. He wasn’t even sure if this was a crush, it probably wasn’t.

However, though, a friend of his, Akaashi Keiji, seemed to notice his inner turmoil on their way to lunch.

“You look emotionally constipated.” Akaashi commented as they sat down, setting his bag on his chair.

Tsukishima scoffed and shook his head. “I do not.”

“You look more deep in thought than usual, this is a new face of yours.”

“What are you, a therapist?” 

Akaashi smiled wryly, taking a sip of his water. It was the psychology major in him, after all. “Shut up, come on, you can tell me and trust me not to blab.”

That was true, because unlike any of the other idiots he associated himself with, for some reason, Akaashi was the only seemingly sane one. Often times, he got as annoyed as Tsukishima did with Dumb and Dumber (Kuroo and Bokuto). However, the only good reason Akaashi had to put up with it was because he was dating Bokuto, and had been since they’d both started university. You could say that he was used to by now. 

“Fine, since you’re the only trustworthy one around here.” Tsukishima looked around and leaned in. “I may be.. thinking about a guy.”

“Oh?” He could see his interest was piqued now. “Do I know him?”

“Doubt it.” Tsukishima shrugged. “His name is.. Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi Tadashi.”

 

“Why’re we talking about Yams?” Kuroo hummed as he sat down, straddling the chair. 

Now HIS interest was piqued. “Yams? As in.. Yamaguchi?”

Kuroo nodded, brushing his hair back. “Yeah, Kenma is friends with him, I think. They associate with each other, he’s a pretty nice guy.”

“Oh,” Tsukishima nodded, making a mental note in his brain. “Okay.”

“Why?” 

Tsukishima could see Akaashi smirking ever so slightly out of the corner of his eye, and he kicked him under the table. “He found my scarf the other day, I just wanted to thank him properly.” Even though he already had. 

“Ohh, gotcha. Well that was nice of him.”

“Nice of who?” Bokuto sat down on the other side of Akaashi, pecking his cheek. “Hi babe!”

“Hi Koutaro.” He hummed, kissing his cheek back. 

Kuroo snorted. “Ewww, get a room, you’re making the lonely folk feel bad!”

“I’m perfectly fine with being alone, Tetsuro.” Tsukishima pointed out, narrowing his eyes. “I operate best alone.”

“But looove is so.. so.. lovely!” Bokuto gushed, throwing his arm around Akaashi’s shoulders. “You’re missing out Tsukki.”

“Whatever, I don’t need to hear it from you lovebirds.” Tsukishima got up, grabbing his bag. “I’ve got homework to do.”

“Aww cmon dude. Don’t be that way.” Kuroo frowned. 

He merely rolled his eyes and turned, walking off. He then slid his headphones on and proceeded to tune out the rest of the world. 

Tsukishima Kei didn’t NEED a relationship, what good would it do to be in one anyway? He would be less lonely? He’d be happier? He was fine the way he was, and no guy, no matter how cute they were in reality, could ever change his mind. 

..Maybe.


	3. the official meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yamaguchi and Tsukishima officially meet and start talking! Will feelings develop? Featuring pining Hinata and Kageyama

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, perhaps updates will be a little frequent? I have the next few chapters planned out, it’s all just a matter of getting them written out and stuff :o enjoy these two bbs!

Tsukishima’s mood hadn’t picked up by later, either. He wasn’t sure why he was in such a sour mood (Akaashi might tell him it stemmed further than Kuroo and Bokuto’s annoying presence), and technically he knew those two idiots weren’t to blame. Still, he wouldn’t have been able to tell you why his mood was so down. But it sure as hell wasn’t because of any relationship talk. Nope.

Later on that evening, he took a walk around campus, to clear his head. He declined all invites to dinner, said he’d probably order in, and promptly headed out. The night air was cold, and he could see his breath in the light of the streetlights lining the sidewalks. His headphones were on his head, and his head bopped gently to the music flowing through the speakers. He’d hit shuffle on his playlist, but of course, what else would come on but a soft love ballad? Was the universe just giving him the biggest middle finger to ever exist?

It’s not as if Tsukishima was opposed to love, or relationships. He wasn’t. His view on them was just a little skewed. 

Growing up, it’d always been him, Akiteru, his older brother, and his mother. He didn’t remember much about his father, only knew what he’d been told by his brother. Their father left them when Kei had been about seven or eight, but he didn’t remember much about the reasons why (he’d been sheltered from the ugly parts). All he knew was that his mother had never been quite the same after, despite her best attempts at putting up a front (Kei was extremely observant, of course). What he’d picked up from that, was that it took the lowest of the low to leave a woman with two children. Not to mention deep down (though he’d never admit it to anyone), he was afraid of being left behind like that too, even if the circumstances were different. He didn’t want to get hurt. And as long as he stuck to his own plan, and didn’t get involved, he would be fine.

The love song ended with a soft note that made his heart ache for some reason. He wouldn’t be having these stupid feelings if it weren’t for—

“Tsukishima?”

Oh, shit. 

***

Yamaguchi has been feeling pretty bored after his last class of the night, and instead of heading straight back to his dorm room, he headed down the path on campus. Nothing crazy, just a walking path on campus, but maybe he’d be able to get his mind off of “you-know-who”. So far it was working, or, it was, until he was met with the somewhat familiar brown eyes and shock of blonde hair that stood out in the dark, coming from the opposite direction. So, what else could he do but call out? “Tsukishima?”

Tsukishima looked up, his eyes wide with surprise. Was he upset? “Oh, Yamaguchi, right?”

He nodded, approaching him slowly with a shy smile and a wave. “Yeah, that’s me. What uh.. brings you out on this cold night?”

The blonde regarded him inquisitively, as if he were trying to figure out if he had ulterior motives. But, there was nothing malicious about this meeting, of course. It was merely a coincidence that they were walking the same path, at the same time, and just happened to run into each other. 

...Though, Yachi would definitely say that this was from one of the many romance novels she’d inhaled over the years. Of course, Tadashi would be lying if he said that this didn’t remind him of a romcom or two he’s seen in the past. But this was real life, after all, not a romantic comedy. 

“I could ask the same thing.” Tsukishima said after a moment, shoving his hands into his pockets. 

“Well, my last class just ended, and I didn’t want to go back to my dorm with my pining friend.” He chuckled.

Tsukishima raised an eyebrow and continued walking, motioning for Yamaguchi to follow. “Pining friend?”

Tadashi chuckled softly and nodded, catching up to him and falling into step next to him. “Yeah, my friend Hinata has been talking to this guy on this dating app for the past few weeks. He’s frustrated because he won’t send him a full face picture, even after all this time.”

He saw Tsukishima snort and glanced at him curiously. “What?”

“Nothing, it just sounds like a friend of mine. He’s been talking to this guy for a month, and they’ve mostly just talked about volleyball and school.” He scoffed and kicked at the ground. 

“...is his username ‘vball_nerd25’?”

Tsukishima’s eyes widened slightly, and he broke out into a low chuckle. “Oh my god, Kuroo set that up for him, I would’ve thought he’d change the name.”

Yamaguchi spluttered and broke out into a fit of giggles. “Oh my god, our friends are idiots!”

“That’s what I’ve been telling Kageyama, but he won’t listen.”

“Mhm! That’s what I’ve been telling Hinata, too.” He chuckled. “Huh, small world.”

“I guess so.” Tsukishima nodded. “You know, you’re not completely intolerable. This has been pretty pleasant.”

Tadashi snorted and smiled a little. “Thanks, you’re nice to talk to, too.”

For the rest of their walk, they switched from talking to just walking in silence. But, fortunately it wasn’t an awkward silence, it was comfortable.

 

It was about 8:30 when both decided to part ways. They both had classes in the morning, after all. Oddly enough, though, Yamaguchi was a little reluctant to. But, only because Tsukishima Kei was an interesting individual, and he wanted to talk to him more. However, it was Tadashi that said goodbye first. 

“This was nice!”

“Yeah, it was.” He nodded, adjusting his glasses. “It’s nice having an intelligent conversation for once, with an intelligent person.”

Yamaguchi giggled and nodded. “Yeah, for sure!” He smiled brightly at him. “So, I’ll see you around.”

Tsukishima nodded. “Yeah, sure. I wouldn’t mind.”

He smiled wider, waving to him as he retreated back in the direction of his dorm. When he arrived, Hinata was sprawled across the couch. He looked up when he walked in, sitting up slightly. “Hey, where were you?”

“Oh, sorry, I was out on a walk. I guess I lost track of time.”

Hinata nodded, hugging the pillow to his chest. “Did you have fun?”

Yamaguchi smiled to himself, remembering the night’s events. “Yeah, I did.”

***

As for Tsukishima, he would never say it, but he had enjoyed himself more than he cared to admit. Yamaguchi was a nice guy, and he could say that while he was cute, he was 99.9% sure that he harbored no romantic feelings for him. We don’t talk about that 0.01 percent, he sure wasn’t going to. 

When he got back to his shared dorm with Kageyama, he stood in front of the television, blocking his view.

“What do you want?” Kageyama groaned, trying to move him out of the way, and out of his line of sight. 

“Stop being a pussy, and send the damn picture of yourself.”

Kageyama’s mouth opened like he was going to say something, floundering a bit. Like Yamaguchi, Tsukishima had been in the middle of the whole picture fiasco. So he was completely up to speed. 

“N-No..” He finally mumbled, his face slowly going the color of a tomato. “It’s too embarrassing—“

“Do you want to date this guy for real or not?” Tsukishima scoffed. “Man up, send a picture, and for the love of god talk about more than just volleyball.” And with that, he left Kageyama sitting there, dumbfounded, and Kei had a smug and satisfied smirk on his face. Huh, what a good night all around.


	4. projects, feelings, and nosy friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Exam week! We all know how that feels I’m sure, and our babes are getting the brunt of it, however, maybe Yamaguchi and Tsukki will use this as an opportunity to get close— or, rather, their friends will help them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason I thought this was chapter five?? Am I okay? Probably not, but anyway this one came out a little long, so enjoy (feat. Pining Daichi uwu)

It had been a week since Tsukishima and Yamaguchi’s walk around campus, and since then, whenever the two saw each other, it started with a wave and was followed by friendly chatter, or brief small talk, depending on where they were headed. It was nice, polite, friendly even, and they both liked it. 

This week and next week were exam weeks, and neither of our groups of friends were having it. We all have our own methods for coping with exams. Some of us study (Akaashi, Tsukishima, Kenma), and some of us procrastinate ourselves into oblivion (Yamaguchi, Hinata, Yachi). While the rest of us... well, we’ve come to terms with the fact with the fact that it’s hopeless, and that if we hold out hope just a little longer, the winter break will soon be upon us (Tanaka, Nishinoya, Kuroo, Bokuto). 

There was one upside to this week though. Kageyama had finally bucked up the courage to send a full face picture to Hinata. After that, things only went up from there. They’d begun talking about school, family, and, of course, their favorite topic, volleyball. This new development was a relief to both parties, as well as their respective groups of friends. It was nice not having to hear either of them whine about their unrequited feelings, or nervousness over what they looked like. 

On the bright side, this brought both groups of friends closer together, even more so than when Kenma and Kuroo started dating. In classes they shared, they sat with each other, they merged tables at lunch, as well as other meals. Most importantly though, they all got each other’s social media’s and phone numbers. Including Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. But they didn’t really text each other, except in the group chat.

It wasn’t like the unresolved tension between the two went unnoticed. Whenever our two oblivious boys weren’t around, the gang talked about what they could do to help them see their true feelings for each other. To help with that, they had to get these two talking more. Baby steps, guys, baby steps. Fortunately, they were able to get someone rather crucial in on their plan. Now, all that was left was to put it into motion. 

***

It was a cold, rainy afternoon (never a good combination by the way), but Tsukishima was enjoying the warmth of his English class. Yamaguchi, whom he found out was in his class a little while after they began talking, walked in and waved to him, though taking his usual seat next to Hinata. Their eyes met briefly, but both flickered to the front of the room when their student teacher, Sawamura Daichi, cleared his throat, signaling that class was going to start. 

“Alright guys, since it’s exam week, and since some of your grades could use the boost, I’m combining our final project of the semester and making a study guide for you to utilize and study for your test.”

There was a collective groan that echoed throughout the classroom, causing Daichi to chuckle. “Would it be better if I told you that you could do it with a partner?”

Immediately, the class began buzzing with excitement. Friends looked to friends, while Tsukishima groaned internally. Group work was the worst, if he had a dollar for every time he’d ended up carrying the entire project on HIS back, he’d have enough money to pay off his student loans. 

“—However, I will be choosing your partners for you.”

Another groan. 

“Cmon, interacting with other people is good for you guys. You’ll live, I promise.” He then pulled out a list of the partnerships, which Tsukishima tuned out until he heard his name be called. He just prayed he wasn’t paired up with an idiot. 

“Tsukishima Kei.”

Oh great, who was it going to be?

“—And Yamaguchi Tadashi.”

Oh, well he could live with that.

He turned in his seat and saw Yamaguchi smiling brightly at him, his face lit up. Was he really that happy to be paired up with him? After all the names were called, everyone got up and began milling over to their partners, and suddenly Yamaguchi was standing in front of him. “Hi.”

“Hey! Thank god I got you as my partner, I’ve always had to do all the work in group projects.” He chuckled, “but at least you won’t flake on me.”

Tsukishima was relieved to know that the work would be split up evenly between the two, and not all forced unto one or the other. “Yeah, so what do we have to do again?”

“Create some kind of study guide I guess? Anything to help us out on the exam.”

“Should be easy enough, we’ll take what we have from our notes and compile that into an organized study guide.”

Yamaguchi nodded, smiling. “Sure! When should we get started? When’s a good time for you?”

Kei thought for a moment, when WAS a good time for him? “Well, around five is good, I’m done with all my classes by then.”

He nodded, smiling wider. “Sure! I’m all done by then too. Maybe at the coffee place? A little ways off campus?”

“Sounds good, meet you there?”

“Yup!” And with that, the bell went off, sounding that class was over. “I’ll see you later Tsukishima!”

Tsukishima waved, feeling his cheeks heat up for some reason. It wasn’t like this was a date, they were just working on a project for class, nothing more. He scoffed gently at himself and gathered his stuff, leaving the room. 

Hinata, however, hung back and went up to Daichi, grinning. “Thanks again, for the help!”

Daichi smiled and waved him off. “No need, I’m happy to help. Especially when Tetsuro offered to help set me up with Koushi.”

“How was he going to do that?” He asked.

“Apparently Kenma knows a guy that’s friends with him that can help?” He chuckled sheepishly. “I’ll take any help I can get at this point.”

Hinata giggled. “Are you too scared to ask him out yourself?”

Daichi blushed and rubbed his neck, glancing to the side. “I... Well, maybe, he just makes me really nervous! But not in a bad way, more like a ‘I think you’re really cute and I have no idea how to talk to you without getting really flustered and making a fool out of myself’, kind of way.”

He laughed. “I dunno, you always seemed really calm and cool, collected too!”

“Yeah well, I guess the secret is out.” He chuckled, teasingly putting a finger to his lips. “Don’t tell.”

“My lips are sealed!” Hinata promised, shouldering his bag and waving. “Good luck with Sugawara!”

Daichi waved to him, blushing softly. “Thanks..!” And luck he would need.

***

Tadashi was currently freaking out, for just one reason; he was going out with Tsukishima Kei (or was it like that at all?). He’d never been on a date before, however, this probably wasn’t even a date, and he was overthinking the whole thing. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to dress up a little bit. 

He stood in the mirror hanging on his wall, and looked at himself. For class, he’d gone with a long, comfy hoodie and sweatpants. It was cold, and raining, and he didn’t feel like dressing up. But for this, he didn’t want to make a bad impression on Tsukishima, because he always was well dressed. Always. 

He groaned with frustration and went to the showers, discarding his clothes and letting the water drip down his face as he stood under the spray from the shower head. Yamaguchi was probably making this a bigger thing in his head, and it was most definitely NOT a date. Still, though, he was eager nonetheless, to be spending time with him. He really was nice, despite his tough exterior, and they got along well, and if they happened to get closer because of this study session, well, who was he to complain?

Tadashi had ended up deciding on a dark red sweater and jeans, but tossed a hoodie on again anyway in case it was raining still. He went to go put his contacts back in (he’d taken them out to shower), humming to himself as he put one in, and as he was about to put the other in—

“Hey Yams!!”

Yamaguchi yelped as he whipped around, the contact falling off the tip of his finger and down the sink drain. Nishinoya, who had called out, with Tanaka, close behind, stood behind him as he hung his head, groaning loudly. “No!”

“Ohh, shit, our bad man.” Tanaka chuckled and clapped his back gently. “Say, you look dapper as hell! You got a date or somethin’?”

“Heh, he sure does!” Nishinoya grinned and clapped his shoulder. “Shoyo told me that he’s goin’ out with Tsukishima!”

“It’s not like that—“

“That’s our boy! Man, and Tsukishima’s a tough dude to crack, I don’t know how you did it.” Tanaka grinned as well, pretending to wipe a tear away. “Our little Yams is growing up so fast.”

“Wait, how did Hinata know—“ Tadashi paused and sighed, shaking his head. He must’ve overheard him and Tsukishima talking earlier in class, and went ahead and told everyone they were friends with. Of course he told, why was he even surprised?

“Sooo, can you not see?” Noya asked after a few moments, cocking his head to the side. 

“No, so I’ll need my glasses..” He sighed. 

“Tough luck dude, good luck on your date though!” Tanaka chuckled and continued to the communal showers, Noya close behind.

Yamaguchi sighed and took his other contact out, putting it carefully back in the case. He’d need to make an appointment with the optometrist when he was back home over break. In the meantime, though, he’d have to wear his backup glasses. He didn’t mind that, he just only wore them before bed, when his contacts were out. But now he’d be getting the “Oh, you wear glasses?” Question. Oh well, was all he could think as he made his way back to his room, where Hinata was sitting on the couch, his laptop balanced on his lap. “Hey! Oh, you okay?”

“One of my contacts slipped down the drain.” He mumbled, going to his room and fetching his glasses. He opened the case and slipped them on, blinking a few times. All ready to go. He packed his computer and notes into his bag, bid Hinata goodbye, and headed out on his bike, cycling to the coffee shop, the Crow’s Nest, that university students often frequented to do schoolwork, or just hung out and chilled out after the day of classes. If only it was closer to campus, he’d go there everyday instead of the kiosk on campus. 

He arrived a few minutes after five, and saw Tsukishima already sitting in a booth, his laptop out. He looked focused, and was typing quite fast. Must be important, he figured. He cleared his throat and approached him. “Hey, Tsukishima!”

Tsukishima looked up, his eyes wandering over him for a moment. Tadashi could’ve sworn he saw his cheeks flush, but he couldn’t be certain. “I didn’t know you wore glasses.”

There it was. He smiled a little and sat across from him. “I usually wear contacts, but one of them fell down the drain, so... glasses.”

Tsukishima nodded in understanding. “Gotcha. Well, I got here a little while ago, turns out my class got out early.”

“Oh! Sorry Tsukki, I hope I didn’t keep you waiting!” Great, now HE had been the late one. 

“...what’d you say?”

“Um...” what had he said that was wrong? He was looking at Tadashi with a strange look on his face. “I said... sorry Tsukki—“ Oh. “Oh! Oh my god is it weird I called you that? I’m sorry, I just hear Bokuto call you it and—“

“No, it’s fine. You can call me that if you want.”

He blinked. “Are you sure? You don’t like it when Bokuto says it—“

“He does it to annoy me, besides, you didn’t mean to.” Tsukishima shrugged. “It... also sounds.. okay, when you say it. I’m not instantly filled with dread.”

“Oh,” Tadashi smiled sheepishly. “Well, if you say so, then I will.”

Tsukishima nodded. “Anyway, to answer your question, I wasn’t waiting long. I was messaging my brother, in the time I was waiting. I also waited to get coffee because I’m not sure what you like and I didn’t want to get the wrong thing.”

Yamaguchi smiled, his heart squeezing a bit. That was really thoughtful of him. “Caramel macchiato, that’s what I like. What about you?”

“I prefer tea to coffee, but when I do get coffee, it’s a vanilla frappe.” He paused, raising an eyebrow at Yamaguchi, who was smiling wider at him. “What?”

“I would have never taken you for a sweets kind of guy, Tsukki!” He giggled. 

“Oh, shut up.” He scoffed and got up. “I’ll get our stuff, and then we can get to work.”

Tadashi grinned and nodded. “Alright, oh, and Tsukki?”

Tsukishima turned, his head cocked to the side. 

He beamed brightly at him. “What kind of tea do you like?”

“Mm,” the corner of his mouth twitched upwards into a smile. “White.”

***

While the two did study and get work done, they also spent a lot of time talking about other things. Yamaguchi asked about Tsukishima’s older brother, and in return, told him about his little sister, a couple years younger than him. They talked about parents, and what growing up was like for them (they actually discovered that they lived an hour away from each other), and other things like that. 

Admittedly, they didn’t get as much done as they would’ve liked, but they just arranged to meet back up to finish what they hadn’t. 

“So, Wednesday?” Tsukishima asked as they were both about to head out. “Same time?”

“Mhm, see you then.” Yamaguchi grinned and waved, mounting his bike. “Bye, Tsukki!”

“See you, Yamaguchi.” Tsukishima cracked a small smile as he waved back. 

He smiled and rode off, feeling as if he could’ve flown off into the air. Hanging out with Tsukki was a lot of fun, and even if it wasn’t a date, Tadashi couldn’t deny that he was definitely feeling butterflies. What he didn’t know, was that Tsukki was feeling them too.


	5. to say or not to say?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yachi may or may not have a small problem, and the one person she trusts the most is the majority of the problem. Her feelings are the other part

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may notice that this chapter is from Yachi’s perspective, and not either of our boys. There’s a reason for that, and I apologize in advance (thanks Triinu for helping me flesh this out :3)

Yachi Hitoka was a lover of all things that had to do with love. She just didn’t have the actual real thing. But she wanted it, and she knew who she wanted to share it with. Or, who she used to want to share it with. 

It was her best friend, Tadashi Yamaguchi. Who was completely not into girls. 

She didn’t mean to fall for her best friend, I mean, does anyone mean to do these things? Tadashi was just.. well, he’d been her friend since high school, and they’d been through a lot together. He was sweet, and kind, and everyone loved him, it was nearly impossible not to. Her crush had begun sometime at the end of their third year of high school and into the beginning of their first year of university, but of course that was when HE had begun expressing his interest in boys. What could she do then?

It wasn’t like Hitoka was going to pursue him, especially not when he was very much into Tsukishima. No, she wanted him to be happy, and she was happy for him, no matter who he ended up with. But.. for her, and for her to have closure, she still needed to get out how she felt about him. Just so that she was honest with him, and that her mind could be at ease. She just didn’t know how she was doing to manage that exactly. 

 

***

Just thinking about telling him made her stomach hurt, because really, the situation could go a number of ways. 

For one, it could go down a really bad route. He would reject her (which, she’s expecting), but then things between them could be weird and their friendship might never recover. She’d be left to be on her own, and the last thing she wants to do is lose him as a friend. 

The second scenario was that everything would be fine, she’d confess, and while he would reject her, nothing gets weird between them. Alas, she was probably reaching a little bit with that one. Still, she could hope, but either way, she knew that she had to tell him, no matter what the outcome was, and hope for the best. 

And she was going to, she just had no idea when, or when the right moment would be. 

Right now, she was sitting with Hinata, trying and failing to read over her math notes so she could do her homework. Hinata was laying on the floor of her room, staring up at the ceiling. To be honest, neither one of them was working, and instead, she’d been confiding in him. She’d known Hinata since high school too, so he was quite familiar with her situation, and she knew he wouldn’t ever dare tell a soul. 

“Hitoka, I’m sure it’s gonna be okay, I mean, it IS Tadashi we’re talking about.” He hummed, tossing his pencil into the air with one hand and trying to catch it with the other. “He’ll probably end up apologizing to you.”

“I know, but I don’t want him to.” She groaned and closed her notebook, sliding it off to the side. “He’s got nothing to feel bad about, I was the one who fell for my gay best friend. I just don’t want our friendship to be weird after..” 

“And it might not be.” He sat up, sitting crisscross. “But it’s gonna keep making you feel worse if you don’t do it soon!”

Hitoka chewed on her lip, leaning on the arm of the couch. She knew he was right, she’d just continue to feel worse, and she knew that if she continued to dwell on it and not do anything about it, she’d start feeling it physically. “When should I do it..?”

Shoyo leaned on his hand, thinking for a moment. “Well, when you’re alone.”

“Obviously. But.. when do I know is the right moment?”

“Hm,” he shrugged. “I dunno.. I think you’ll just.. know? Sorry, I’m not good with this kinda stuff.”

She smiled softly. “It’s okay, Sho.. Thank you.”

Shoyo smiled and got up, pulling her into a hug. “Of course, and whatever happens, you got me! But I really don’t think you’ve got anything to worry about.”

And as she hugged him back, nestling her face into the crook of his neck, Hitoka really hoped that that was true.

 

***

 

It was late on a Thursday night, her last class had just gotten out, and she waited outside for Tadashi to come by. Whenever she had late classes, Tadashi offered to walk her back to her dorm, because he didn’t want anything bad happening to her late in the night. He was sweet like that. 

She shivered slightly, pulling her jacket tighter around herself and hopping back on forth on her feet to try and keep herself from getting too cold. She hoped he was coming soon. 

“Hitoka!”

Ah, there he was. She turned and waved to him, meeting him in the middle. “Hey!”

“Sorry I’m late, Tsukki and I were on the phone and I lost track of time.” He grinned, turning and heading in the direction of her dorm, her quickly catching up to him. “Hope you weren’t waiting long.”

“Oh, no, I wasn’t.” She shook her head. “What were you guys talking about?”

“Just plans over break, we were thinking about maybe seeing each other or something.” He smiled and pushed his glasses back up. “Gosh, Hitoka, it really feels like.. like this could really be the real thing, like.. maybe it could work?”

Hitoka’s heart squeezed in her chest, and not in a good way. She just needed to get this off her chest. “Oh, so you know for sure he likes guys?”

“I wasn’t at first, but we were talking about past relationships, and he sort of hinted that he was, so I’ll take it!” He grinned. 

She smiled weakly and looked down. “I’m happy for you, Tadashi, um.. listen, can I tell you something?” Her stomach was hurting again, especially when he stopped and turned to look at her. “It’s.. it’s important.”

“Oh, okay.. are you okay?”

“A-Ah..” She shook her head quickly. “No, but it’s something I just need to.. to say..”

He frowned. “Hitoka, you can tell me..”

She sighed and rubbed her eyes. “Look, I.. I like you! I have since high school, and..” She looked up at him, her voice catching in her throat as she saw the slightly surprised, and maybe even horrified look on his face. “And.. I don’t want anything romantic, alright? I really don’t, so.. I just, needed to tell you because I’ve been agonizing over not telling you and I don’t want to lose you—“

“Lose me..? Hitoka, you’re not going to lose me..” He spoke softly, shooting her a small smile. “We’re still friends.”

She nodded, forcing a smile. “O-Okay, I just wanted to be sure.. thank you.”

He nodded, waving her off. “You don’t need to thank me.. um, I’m just.. well I’m sorry—“

“No!” She held her hands up. “Don’t.. don’t say sorry, you don’t have anything to say sorry about.”

He blinked and nodded, sliding his hands into his pockets. “Okay.. Alright, cmon, lets get you back..”

She nodded and fell back into step with him, looking at the ground. The rest of the walk back to her dorm was a silent one, neither one of them really tried to make an effort to talk. Or, rather she didn’t, Tadashi made comments hear and there about how cold it was. 

Hitoka took a moment on the walk back to realize that this was NOT the meet-cute she’d imagined. She’d imagined it to be bright and sunny out, with cherry blossoms falling and swirling around in the wind around her and her crush as she wholeheartedly confessed her feelings. But this was the opposite. It was dark, and cold, there were no cherry blossoms, and it left her heart in a million pieces. But not for the reason you’d think. 

When they got to her dorm, they bid each other goodbye and she shut the door, sliding down against it onto the floor, hiding her face in her knees as she began to cry. 

She wasn’t crying because she got rejected, she’d been expecting that, of course, like I said before, but she was crying because she was afraid she’d caused a drastic change in their friendship. Something that wouldn’t be able to be fixed, something that’d cause him to drift away from her and not want to be friends with her anymore. What would she do then?

Yes, Yachi Hitoka was a lover of all things that had to do with love, and as much as she wanted it, she’d come to terms with the fact that maybe it was something she’d never get.


	6. what’s up with those feelings huh?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last night’s events left both Tadashi and Hitoka reeling, but what’ll happen when it seems to affect Tsukki too?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In advance, I apologize for hurting them 😔 it’ll all turn out in the end though, you’ll see. And again, I’m glad you all seem to be enjoying this! Expect some bonus content for other ships too!

Tadashi hadn’t slept well that night, he spent the majority of it staring up at the ceiling, thinking of what Hitoka had told him. 

Despite her telling him not to, he DID feel bad. How could he not? He’d hurt her feelings, and he hadn’t meant to, of course not, but he knew he had, even though she tried her best to hide it. He knew it, because he knew her, like the back of his hand. 

So why hadn’t he noticed this?

A part of him blamed himself for not catching on, because surely if he knew her as well as he claimed, he would’ve noticed her crush on him. But he knew that people were good at hiding things, especially when it came to crushes and feelings. He knew that better than anyone, when it came to Tsukki. 

Aaaand now he was thinking about Tsukishima. 

He groaned and pulled his pillow over his face, huffing in frustration. His brain was too muddled and active for him to fall asleep right now, and it was 4:30 am the last time he glanced at the clock. His class was at 8:30, which meant he has four hours until he has to get up. Unless he didn’t go to sleep until 5:00, and then he’d have three hours and thirty minutes to sleep. 

...looks like he wasn’t sleeping. 

 

***

 

He actually had ended up falling asleep, though he couldn’t remember when. Tadashi dragged himself out of bed, pulled on a hoodie and jeans, and headed to get coffee. He hadn’t heard Shoyo moving around when he was getting dressed, so he assumed he was already up and ready for the day. Personally, he wasn’t sure where Shoyo got all that energy, he’d known the guy for four years and he still wasn’t sure.

Tadashi yawned as he trekked to the kiosk, getting in line. He glanced at his watch, it was only 8:00, he was good on time. 

“Hey, Yamaguchi.”

He turned and saw Tsukishima walking towards him, a small smile on his face. He came up next to him, sliding his headphones off his ears to sit around his neck. “You look tired.” He observed, cocking an eyebrow. That was sort of his way of asking “are you okay?”

Tadashi smiled sheepishly and rubbed his neck. “Yeah, just didn’t sleep too well last night. I guess it was one of those nights.”

He nodded and made his way up to front with him, not pushing it any further. “When are you heading home for break?”

Ah yes, it was the Friday before break officially started, and already kids who’d already finished with exams and had nothing better to do were gone. The campus felt a little emptier, because a lot of people had left already. Tadashi had one more exam later on today, a few goodbyes he wanted to say, and then he was off for home, where the smell of his mother’s cooking and the excited shouts of his sister, Suki, would be awaiting him. He could practically hear her calling for him as he opened the door to their house. 

Tadashi smiled. “Probably sometime this evening, I still have a little packing to do, after that it’s home to my mom and Suki.”

Tsukishima smiled a bit in return as they got their coffees, the both of them bidding Nishinoya and Tanaka goodbye as they headed off to English together. “What are you thinking of getting them? Or have you picked their gifts out already?”

“Suki not so subtly mentioned that she found this dress online that she wanted, so I found it and got it in her size.” He chuckled and sipped out of his cup. “I got her a few other things too, and for my mom I got some books by her favorite author, and a picture frame with a photo of all of us.”

“You’re like the model son and brother aren’t you?” Tsukishima hummed, shooting him a teasing look. 

Tadashi stuck his tongue out at him, grinning. “Yeah yeah, what’d you get for your family then?”

“Hm, well I didn’t go overboard that’s for sure.” He smirked, earning a whine and slight shove, followed by a “Tsukki!”. “I got my mom this new cookbook, and for Akiteru I got him a new volleyball, and a book by one of his favorite players.”

“Aww, so you DO care.” Tadashi teased.

“Uh huh, shut up.” He rolled his eyes. “I was considering getting you something, but after that comment I’m not so sure.”

Wait, what? “Oh, wait really?” He grinned. “Aw, Tsukki, that’s nice of you but you don’t have to—“

“I said I’m going to, so I am.” He shrugged. “We’re friends, aren’t we?”

Tadashi’s heart swelled, grinning wider. “Yeah, we are! To be honest, I was thinking of getting you something too.”

“Can I know?”

“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise.” He hummed and walked into their English class. They were early, so they grabbed two seats near the back and sat down. “So, when are you heading home?”

“Probably after lunch today, Kuroo and Bokuto want me to stay so they can say goodbye.”

He nodded, setting his cup down. “I would have thought those two would’ve left already.”

“Kenma and Akaashi had a couple exams left today, and since they’re all heading back in the same direction, they wanted to wait for them.”

“Makes sense.” He hummed and leaned on his hand, humming. “Well, at least I’ll be able to see you before you go.”

Tsukishima nodded and sipped more of his latte. “You will, don’t worry.” He teased. 

Tadashi waved him off, attempting to hide his reddened cheeks. “Just saying I didn’t want you to go without saying goodbye!”

He smiled a bit. “Yeah, I understand.”

He smiled back, staring up at the front of the room, though he occasionally felt Tsukishima’s eyes on him. He enjoyed their lighthearted banter, and the way conversation just flowed so easily. It briefly made him forget about what happened with Yachi.

 

***

 

Later on, after his exam, Tadashi headed down to the dining hall where his friends were sitting. Oikawa and Iwaizumi were sitting close to one another, their fingers linked together while Oikawa’s head leaned on Iwa’s shoulder. Yeah, this was a new development that only happened a few days ago, but really, everyone there had thought they’d been dating already, so it came as no surprise to any of them. 

Bokuto and Kuroo were chatting, Kuroo’s arm slung around Kenma’s shoulders while Kenma slumped in his seat a bit, nodding every so often at Hinata, who was going on very animatedly about something. Akaashi wasn’t there yet, no doubt on his way there though, and Kageyama had already left for the holidays, having left the day before. 

Tsukishima had an empty seat next to him, and Tadashi quickly took it, sitting down next to him. Tsukishima slid off his headphones and turned to him. “How was your exam?” He inquired. 

“Long, boring, but I did well! I think.” He chuckled. 

“Oh, hey Ya-chan!” 

Like I said before, him forgetting about the whole thing with Yachi last night was brief, and when he looked up they locked eyes. It got uncomfortably silent for a moment before she sat backed up a bit. “I’m gonna go grab food, I’ll be right back!” And before anyone could say anything she darted off, leaving everyone confused. 

“Sooo.. What was that about?” Oikawa spoke up, asking what no one else would. “Something up?”

“O-Oh! Yeah, it’s fine.. We’re just.. um..” Tadashi shrugged, glancing away awkwardly. “It’s.. hard to explain.”

“Enlighten us then.” He pressed. 

“Enough, Oikawa.” Iwaizumi chided, frowning. “It sounds personal, so why don’t we just drop it.”

“No, ah.. I mean it’s fine..” He sighed. “Yachi confessed to me last night, and I think we’re both trying to just move on and deal with it.”

“Ah, now we’re getting somewhere.” Oikawa hummed. “And you said no, hm?”

Tadashi hung his head a bit. “Well, yes, but it’s not that I don’t love her, it’s just not romantically—“

But, surprisingly, Tsukishima was already up and gone, leaving everyone in his wake confused, especially Tadashi. What the hell had just happened?

 

***

 

Later on, he still hadn’t heard from Tsukki, even when he’d messaged him and called him. What had he done wrong?

He’d assumed he’d left for home, and his suspicions had been confirmed when he’d asked Akaashi. So, dejectedly he headed to pack up the rest of his stuff he’d need for the break home, moving at a slower pace than he would’ve liked.

Hinata knocked on the door, waving. “Hey, you headed out?”

Tadashi turned and nodded. “Yeah, in a few. What about you?”

“Just was about to head out the door!” He smiled and leaned against the doorway. “Look.. I know what happened with you and Hitoka wasn’t exactly ideal..” Understatement of the year. “But.. she still cares about you a lot, platonically obviously, and she feels bad.”

He sighed. “I know, but she shouldn’t.. I just don’t know what I can say to her right now..”

“Well.. take some time over the break then, as long as you guys talk.” He smiled and waved. “I’ll see you soon, have a good holiday.” 

“See you, Shoyo!” He called as he watched him walk out the door, sighing as he closed up his suitcase and headed out as well. He packed up his car, including his bike, and headed home, not being able to focus on the radio when he had all these thoughts in his head. He just wanted everything to be okay, with him and Hitoka, and with him and Tsukishima. He wasn’t even sure what went wrong between him and Tsukki, and he wasn’t answering. 

Soon enough though, he was home. He’d arrived a little after 7:00, and as he pulled up to his mom’s house, he couldn’t help but feel all those worries and fears melt away, at least for now. Because he was home. 

He got out, and before he’d even taken a step in the direction of the door, his sister was flinging herself at him, a blur of olive colored hair and freckles knocking him into the snow. He grunted and hugged Suki tightly, grinning widely. He glanced up and saw his mother standing at the door, beaming at him. 

Yes, he was home, and all those other things could wait, at least for now.


	7. quality bonding time, feat. The Tsukishima’s

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s home time for Tsukki! Maybe big bro Akiteru will be able to help him out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 7 is finally here! Thank god, I hope you guys enjoy, and I hope this answers any questions that the last chapter might’ve left you with

Kei couldn’t exactly say why he’d freaked out like that, but he could safely say that when he heard Yamaguchi say that Yachi had confessed to him, he felt sick to his stomach.

Of course she liked him, the way she hung on his every word whenever they were together, or was just always.. There, he should have known. And yet he’d allowed himself to get closer to him, allowed himself to fall for him, despite all the little warning bells in his head, he’d developed that crush and he’d fallen. He was kicking himself as he headed back to his dorm room to grab his stuff, blinking back angry tears. Why was he so upset about this?

Was he upset because he wanted this to work? That he wanted Yamaguchi to somehow be the fabled “One”, like in romance movies where both of the lovers faced all the odds and ended up together in the end? This wasn’t a romance movie, this was real life, and it didn’t always play out the way that you wanted it to, no matter what.

His phone buzzed repeatedly, seeing a bunch of missed texts from Yamaguchi. Kei knew he ran out in a hurry with no explanation, but he had no desire to wait around and see Yachi, or look at Yamaguchi’s big, brown eyes. His face flushed slightly as he slammed his suitcase shut, zipping it closed in a huff. He slid his phone in his pocket, ignoring the vibrations as he went down to his car. 

“Oi, Tsukishima.” 

Kei sighed and turned around to see Akaashi standing there, his arms crossed and looking at him expectantly. “What?”

“What was that about? I saw you coming out of the dining hall, and I asked Koutaro and he told me what happened. What’s going on?”

“I don’t want to talk about it with you.” He shoved his suitcase in the trunk, closing it. “It just goes to show that I should’ve known better than to catch feelings for someone I’ve only known a few weeks. He has a girl he’s know for four years, who do you think is going to win in that scenario?” He walked to his door, his hand gripping the handle. “It’s easier this way, actually, to know before I let myself go too far.”

Akaashi shook his head. “Did you even let him explain?”

“Like I said, it’s easier to fade out now, while I still have a chance of sparing my own feelings.” Kei opened the door and nodded at him. “Have a good holiday, Keiji.” And before he could say anything in return, he had gotten in, closed the door, and drove off, leaving Akaashi, and Yamaguchi, behind him. 

 

***

Kei got home around 4 o’clock in the afternoon, and was greeted with the sounds of the tv coming from the living room. He slipped his shoes off and left them by the door, calling out. “I’m home!”

“Kei?” He heard footsteps and was met with the bright and smiling face of his brother, Akiteru. “Hey! I thought you weren’t coming until later.”

“I had nothing else better to do.” He shrugged, heading to his room. “So I came home.”

Akiteru smiled and followed him like an excited puppy. Other than for holidays, they were like ships in the night, only being able to catch up with each other with phone calls or texting. So, you could understand his eagerness to see Kei in the flesh for the first time in a few months. “I’m really happy to see you, it feels like it’s been years.”

“Well, luckily, it’s only been a few months.” Kei set his suitcase down on his bed, glancing around. His old room hadn’t changed much from when he moved out, his mom had no reason to change it when she knew he’d be coming back, but it’s not like he decorated much anyway. It was pretty simple. “When did you get here?”

Akiteru smiled and walked in, leaning against the wall. “Yesterday, mom was so excited she came and picked me up even though I’d already called a cab.” He chuckled. 

“Where’s mom?”

“Out, I think she went grocery shopping.” He hummed, beaming as his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out, grinning like a lovesick school girl. Kei smirked, walking over and peeking over his shoulder. “Minami?”

Akiteru yelped, his cheeks reddening. “Yeah, she’s gonna be here soon, less than five minutes.”

Nagai Minami was Akiteru’s girlfriend, who he’d met completely on accident. He was in the park, passing to a few buddies when he’d accidentally passed and the ball went flying— right into her face. Though she’d been fuming at first, he offered to take her out to lunch to make up for it. They’d been dating for about a year and a half now. 

Kei himself had only interacted with her a handful of times, since the couple lived full time in Tokyo. But for this break, she’d be spending it all with them. He liked her well enough, she was almost similar to him, in terms of their dry sense of humor and quick wit. He teased Akiteru that was the only reason he was dating her, because he’d grown up with Kei his whole life, and knew how to go up against pettiness. 

He heard a car pull up, and if Akiteru lit up anymore he’d surely burst. He ran to the door with Kei following behind, chuckling as he watched him try and attempt to get his shoes on. “Why not just go barefoot?” He teased. 

Akiteru pouted and stuck his tongue out at him, getting his shoes on and rushing outside while Kei followed behind at a much slower pace. He was well aware that it was going to be a full on love fest with those two around, and as bitter as he was about his own love endeavors not working out, he wasn’t going to rain on their parade, so to speak. He heard the door of a car slam shut and his brother exclaim happily, and with that he walked out to see Akiteru smothering Minami. He was peppering kisses on her face, and she was half heartedly pushing him away, though not really making that much of an effort to. 

“Ahem.” He cleared his throat, smirking. “All of this PDA isn’t allowed.”

Minami pulled away, her hand on her hip. She was attractive, Kei would say that. Auburn hair that was curled slightly on the ends and reached the middle of her back, light blue eyes that stood out, especially when she looked at you. Akiteru bragged all the time about her eyes. Right now they were piercing Kei, and her lips were quirked up in a smile. “Aw, my second favorite Tsukishima.” 

Kei snorted and waved to her. “Hey, Minami.”

Akiteru managed to plant a kiss on her cheek and helped her grab her stuff. “He got in a few minutes before you did.”

“Oh? So, we all should catch up when we’re done settling in.” This was more of a statement than a question, and, to prove that point, she walked inside, leaving the two boys behind. 

Kei glanced at Akiteru, who looked completely love struck. He thought it to be incredible, that even after a year and a half, they both acted like they were still in the honeymoon period of their relationship. He hummed thoughtfully and went inside, going to unpack his stuff before Minami ripped him a new one for not hurrying up. 

 

***

 

“So, Tiny Tsukishima, what’s been up with you?”

Akiteru and Minami had taken the couch, his arm draped her shoulders while Kei took the chair. He shrugged at the question, shaking his head. “Nothing really, just getting through my first year of college, finished exams—“

“What about that boy toy you were telling me about?” His older brother piped up, grinning cheekily. 

“Boy toy?” Minami perked up. “Have you been holding out on me Kei?”

He huffed. “No, I haven’t. Besides, that’s not what it was.”

“Ooh, ‘was’? That’s not good.” 

Kei groaned. “I really don’t want to talk about it..”

Akiteru frowned. “Kei? It’s okay, if you need to talk about it. Just give us the condensed version, then.”

“Yeah, spill.” Minami said, leaning forward slightly, like she was watching an especially exciting scene in a movie or show. 

“There’s nothing really to tell.” He sighed. “I liked him, and it seemed he might feel the same, but some other girl likes him. That’s all.”

“Ah,” Akiteru winced. “I’m sorry, Kei.”

Kei shrugged. “I don’t care, it is what it is.”

“Hm.. well what did he say?” She asked. 

“What?”

“When you talked to your man, what did he say when you talked to him about the other girl?”

Kei sighed, why did everyone keep asking him that? “I didn’t, I just hightailed it out of there.”

“Seriously, Kei?” Akiteru shook his head. “Relationships are all about communication! You need to talk to him, because how do you know he likes her?”

Huh, he supposed he didn’t really know for sure. “Well.. I don’t, but whatever, I don’t want to get hurt.”

“Relationships are about letting go and being happy with someone you like! Sometimes, you get lucky and find the one off the bat.” Minami smiled and pecked Akiteru’s cheek. “But you don’t know unless you actually talk, which shouldn’t be hard for you since you like running your mouth.”

Kei’s mouth hung open slightly while Akiteru snorted. She was quick, that was for sure. “Haha, very funny.. maybe, I will..”

“I can’t take just a ‘maybe’, I need a for sure yes!” She crossed her arms. 

“Fine! I will, but I’m not doing it right now.” He huffed. 

“Sometime over the break?” Akiteru suggested. 

Just then, Akiteru and Kei’s mother, Tsukishima Nozomi, walked in, the sounds of bags crinkling in her arms. “I’m home!”

“Hi mom!” Akiteru called, staring intently at Kei. “Well?”

Kei scowled and sighed, shaking his head. “Fine, I’ll talk to him over break.”

“Yes!”

“Hush.”


	8. about 85% better

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> what does one do when they’re emotionally constipated? They talk to someone they care about and who cares about them! In Tadashi’s case, it’s his mom!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh gosh wow I’m sorry this chapter took so long?? I was working on Valentine’s stuff and then I ended up getting the flu, so I apologize if this chapter isn’t up to par! I promise I’ll be back up and running properly soon, hopefully you enjoy this chapter though!

Out of everything that Tadashi missed about home, it was definitely his mother’s home cooked meals. 

Yamaguchi Risa was an extremely sweet woman, and most things were left up for her to do. Tadashi and Suki’s father, Ryoto, worked overseas in America, and while it was hard on all of them at times, Risa never faltered in making her home a happy one. Not to mention Suki was a huge help, and Tadashi too whenever he was home. Her children got their looks from her, all the way down to the freckles and kind personality. Risa was pretty much the mom everyone wanted to have as their own.

That night, she’d cooked a big meal that probably could’ve fed the whole neighborhood and then some. There was Saba Shioyaki, meat and potato stew, sunomono, miso soup and rice. Tadashi had joked to her over the phone once that the college dining hall didn’t have food nearly as good as hers, which wasn’t a lie. At this rate, he was probably gonna be a few pounds bigger by the time he got back from break. 

After saying thank you for the food, he dug in, a wide smile on his face. People could say what they wanted, but his mom was the best cook in the world. “Thanks again, mom.”

“Yeah! You never cook this much when Tadashi isn’t home.” Suki giggled. 

“Well I just want to make sure he’s getting fed, he looks like skin and bone.” She clucked her tongue. “You should’ve said something sooner, Tadashi, I would’ve sent you something.”

Tadashi chuckled. “I’m really okay, mom, though if you did I wouldn’t complain. I’d finally be able to prove to my friends that you’re the superior cook.” 

“Oh! How are those friends of yours? How’s Shouyo? And Hitoka?”

He stiffened slightly and ate a little slower. “Um.. Shouyo’s fine, he actually started dating someone! His boyfriend is really nice, though a little weird? He’s kinda intense, but is nice to Shouyo and us so I’m happy for him.”

Risa smiled. “That’s wonderful! And Hitoka?”

Tadashi shrugged and swallowed before answering. “She’s fine, nothing really new.”

“Hey hey Tadashi,” Suki chimed in, grinning mischievously. “Do YOU have a boyfriend?”

His eyes widened and he shook his head. “No! Why would you say that? If I did, I would’ve told you guys.”

“Mm, then who’s that pretty blonde boy that’s always on your Instagram and Twitter?”

Risa perked up and she leaned in, her interest piqued. “Tadashi, you never told me that there was a boy! Do you like him? What’s his name?”

“Tsukki! Or is that just a nickname?” Suki grinned at her brother’s mortified expression, avoiding him trying to cover her mouth. “He’s pretty cute, I’d date him.”

He groaned and buried his face in his hands. He was embarrassed, of course, but he was also brought back to the events of Hitoka confessing to him, and Tsukki getting upset and running off, and now avoiding him. Tsukki still hadn’t called him back or texted him by that evening, and Tadashi couldn’t help but think that he had screwed things up majorly, even when he hadn’t meant to. 

“Tadashi?”

Tadashi looked up, at his mother, who was looking at him with concern. His hand flew to his cheek, feeling a wetness that he hadn’t realized had been there. When had he started crying? 

Risa reached over and slipped her hand in his, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Is everything okay? Do you want to talk about it?”

He could feel Suki’s eyes on him and he shook his head, looking down at his food. He didn’t feel so hungry anymore, his stomach feeling like it was all knotted. “N-No.. it’s okay..” Tadashi glanced back up at her, shooting her a pleading look, almost as if he was begging her that he did need to, just not there. Risa gave him a slight nod of understanding and let his hand go, the table falling silent. 

“Tsukishima.” Tadashi mumbled quietly, picking at his food.

Suki looked up. “Huh?”

“Tsukishima Kei, that’s the blonde guy.” He shrugged. “Tsukki is just a nickname.”

And that was that, no one spoke anymore on the subject, instead talking about how school was going, what Suki had planned with her friends during the break, Risa’s work, etc. After dinner was over, Tadashi hummed a little tune while they cleaned up, feeling full. Turns out he’d eaten more than he’d felt like eating originally, but that was the thing with his mom, she either convinced you to eat more, or it was way too delicious to turn down another bite. 

 

***

 

After some insistence from his mom and sister that they had it covered, Tadashi went down to his room to settle in. It didn’t look any different from when he had left. Posters of his favorite shows growing up were on the walls still (Pokémon mostly), and figures and books still sat on his shelves. He flopped on his bed, staring up at the ceiling as he folded one hand behind his head, the other pulling his phone out of his pocket. Still no message from Tsukki. He tossed his phone down, feeling disappointed and frustrated with the whole situation. Why couldn’t things just be fixed?

There was a soft knock at his door and he sat up a bit. “Come in.”

Risa poked her head in, smiling as she walked in and shut the door, going to sit beside her son. “Hey..”

Tadashi smiled and scooted over a bit. “Hi mom..”

“So.. do you want to talk?” She asked softly, squeezing his hand again. 

“I.. I..” He nodded. “Mhm..”

She nodded, gesturing for him to continue. 

Tadashi sighed and leaned on her shoulder. “Hitoka confessed her feelings to me the other day, and even though she said I shouldn’t feel bad I.. I do anyway, because her feelings were hurt.” He sniffled, tears threatening to fall again. “And I didn’t mean to hurt her mom, but now things are weird with us and I hate it..” 

The tears were flowing now, he couldn’t help it, but at the same time he didn’t have a problem with crying in front of his mom. “A-And I think I hurt Tsukki, the boy I was talking about and.. he’s.. so wonderful.” Tadashi sighed and rubbed his eyes, his pant leg growing damp from the tears. “He’s so smart, and witty and has a bit of snark to him, but he’s never mean, not really.. He can be sweet, and he’s caring, he just doesn’t show it too often..”

Risa nodded and listened to her son talk, stroking his hair comfortingly as he talked tearfully about what was going on. It broke her heart to know he was in this much pain, and she knew her Tadashi would never hurt anyone’s feelings on purpose. He had a giant heart, which also made it susceptible to getting broken easily. She’d seen it happen too many times growing up, and she just worried about him. When it seemed like he was done, she cupped his face and brushed away his tears with her thumbs. 

“Tadashi, I want you to listen to me.. You’ve always been more conscious of other people than yourself, and while that’s a good quality, it hurts you as well.” She frowned. “There’s nothing that can be done about Tsukishima, at least not right now, he’s probably hurt and thinks that you were leading him on, or that you like Hitoka. Give him some time to cool off and start thinking rationally again, maybe a day or two.”

“As for Hitoka, that’s a stickier situation.” She hummed. “I say give that a day or two as well.. so you can gather your thoughts and think of what to say to her.” 

Tadashi nodded, his smile a little wobbly. He felt like a six year old again, being comforted by his mom after he’s skinned his knee playing outside. Still, she was right. He decided after Christmas, that was when he’d put things into action. It was better he was focused on family right now anyway. “Okay, thanks mom.. I’ll do that.”

Risa smiled and kissed his forehead, standing up and heading for the door. “Alright, well I’m heading to bed. Anything I can get for you or are you going to bed too?”

“Yeah, I’m gonna get some sleep.. Night.”

“Goodnight honey.” She smiled and shut the door behind her, leaving Tadashi alone with his thoughts. 

He sighed and got up, padding to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He still had to make that appointment with the eye doctor so he could see if there was anything that could be done about his lost contact. Finishing up his routine, he went back down to his room and shut his door, turning on the lamp by his bed after turning off his light. Tadashi sat under the blankets for a moment, staring down at his phone. He really should just leave it alone, like his mom said, but, well.. He hadn’t left a voicemail yet. 

Tadashi scooped up the phone and went to his contacts, scrolling down until he reached Tsukishima’s. He clicked on the call button and held it up to his ear, his heart pounding with anticipation. 

It rang for a minute or two before it went to voicemail, and Tadashi’s heart hurt hearing Tsukki’s voice. After the beep that signaled that he could leave his message sounded, he took a deep breath. 

“Hi, Tsukki, it’s Yamaguchi..” He began, his voice cracking slightly. No, he wasn’t going to cry again. “I just.. I wanted to call because I wanted to say I understand you need your space. So whenever you can, or feel like it, I hope you call me back, because I’d really like to try and explain myself, heh.. Anyway, I hope you’re having a good night, I’ll talk to you soon.” He clicked off the call and set his phone and glasses on his nightstand, turned off his lamp and settled back against the pillows. 

Tadashi wouldn’t say that he felt 100% better about the situation, but at least things were getting there. He felt okay, about 85% better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also, a few notes:  
> -Saba Shioyaki is fried mackerel   
> -sunomono is cucumber salad   
> -Risa works at the hospital! She’s a pediatrician   
> -Suki is two years younger than Tadashi, so she’s in her second year of high school


	9. the reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsukki finally gets a reality check, but by whom? And will it be enough?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was half asleep when I posted this oh lord, hopefully everything that’s written makes sense

‘‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring— well, actually untrue. 

Kei and Akiteru were sitting in the living room, the only source of light coming from the Christmas tree that was sitting in the corner of the room. Stockings were strung up on the mantle, and there was already a small pile of gifts that sat under the tree (put there by their mother and Minami). 

Nozomi, who still liked to pretend her boys believed in the spirit of Santa, got up early in the morning still and stuffed their stockings full of things that were too small to be wrapped. She’d done it the night before this time, however, because she had to work the next morning and had to get up early. She’d asked Kei to record everyone’s reactions to what she’d gotten them, including his own. 

Kei had always been fond of Christmas, it was just a nice holiday where he was able to see his family and they were all able to be together. Especially this Christmas.

“So, you’re going to propose to her?” 

Akiteru grinned and nodded, snapping the ring box shut and getting up to put it in her stocking. “Yep, I got the ring a week ago, and I thought Christmas would be the perfect time to pop the question!”

Kei smiled and leaned back on the couch. “You do realize this method of proposing is incredibly cheesy, and one you’d find in a Hallmark movie right?”

“Yeah yeah, and she’d probably say the same thing, but hopefully she’ll be too overwhelmed with emotion to actually remember she would say that.” He chuckled, sighing softly as he sat back down next to his brother. “What if she says no..?”

“Why in the hell would she say no?” Kei asked, surprised by his brother’s sudden change in attitude. “She loves you, and you love her. I believe she’ll say yes.” 

Akiteru chuckled and ran his hand through his hair. “I’m just.. it took a while for my life to click together, you know? I don’t want to mess up this up, because I love her so much.”

“And she loves you too, I can see it whenever you two are together.” He put his hand on his shoulder. “Personally, I don’t think you have to worry about her saying no.” 

“Promise?” He asked weakly, smiling at him. 

“Would I lie to you about that?”

“Fair enough.” Akiteru took a deep breath and leaned his head back on the back of the couch. “Okay, I can at least try and relax about that now. What about you, huh?”

Kei snorted. “What about me?”

“You know what.” He smiled knowingly at him. “Have you talked to.. you-know-who?”

Kei sighed. He did know what Akiteru was talking about, and the truth was that he missed talking to Yamaguchi, and hearing his voice. He wanted things to be back to normal, but he also wanted to tell Yamaguchi how he really felt about him, finally. Minami had been the one to coax it out of him the day before while they were all out doing last minute shopping (though he suspects it was just an excuse for his mother to get them out of the house while she did last minute wrapping. Plus, Akiteru and Minami wanted to look at all the lights), and he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him since. He was sure now that he liked him, liked him more than he would normally admit, and it scared him.

“No, but when I woke up yesterday, I had a voicemail from him.” He mumbled, causing Akiteru to exclaim loudly. 

“What?! And you’re just telling me this now??” 

“Shut up! You’ll wake up everyone on the block at this rate.” Kei hissed, taking a breath. “But.. yes I did, he was just saying that he understood I needed space and would give me as much time as I needed.. But that he would like to explain himself.”

He grinned. “Well that’s perfect, isn’t it? That’s the perfect time for you to hear him out AND confess!”

“Or, he’s going to tell me that he’d prefer it if we were just friends, and I’d end up making a fool out of myself.”

“Kei, you’ve got to start thinking positively if you want things to go your way. Here.” Akiteru turned to face Kei, smiling. “Pretend I’m Yamaguchi, practice what you’re gonna say.”

Kei blinked. “That is the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard come out of your mouth. How is that going to work?”

“Just say what you would if he was here, cmon, I’m sure you’ve been thinking about it.”

He huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. Of course he’d been thinking about it, probably more than he should’ve been. Sometimes he thought about the different scenarios in which they could go, which had him up in the wee hours of the morning. Okay, maybe it might be helpful. “Fine, I’ll give it a try.”

“Perfect.” Akiteru smiled and waited expectantly for him to start talking. “Okay, whenever you’re ready.”

Kei huffed and took a deep breath. “Yamaguchi.”

“Yes, Tsukishima?” 

“Um.. Well, we are somewhat close friends, and even though we had this.. bump, I still care about you.” He felt his hands begin to sweat, and this wasn’t even the real deal. “I-I actually.. I care about you, as more than a friend, and I like you. A lot.”

Akiteru grinned and grabbed his hands, swooning dramatically. “Oh, Tsukki that’s so sweet, I like you too!”

Kei blushed and groaned softly. “This is so stupid, and this is a best case scenario.”

“Ooh, So should we do a worst case scenario?”

“No!” He groaned and got up. “Okay, I’m going to bed.”

Akiteru chuckled and got up as well. “Yeah, alright, me too then. Got a big day tomorrow.”

Kei smiled a bit and clapped his shoulder. “Yeah, get some sleep and try not to dwell.”

“Easier said than done.” He sighed and waved to him, heading down to his room. “Oh, merry Christmas by the way.”

Upon glancing at the clock, it was indeed past midnight, indicating it was Christmas. Kei smiled and nodded at him as he paused at his door. “Merry Christmas, Akiteru.”

 

***

 

When Kei woke up the next morning, it was to the excited shouting of Akiteru that it had snowed. When he looked out the window, there was a fresh blanket of snow laid out on the ground, untouched by people or anything else. He slipped his glasses on and padded down to the living room where his brother and Minami were waiting, Akiteru looking extremely anxious. “Good morning, Minami, Akiteru. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas Kei.” Minami grinned. “We were waiting for you, slowpoke. We technically can’t open gifts without you here, since your mom wants video evidence of us opening said gifts.”

“Ah, right, of course.” He chuckled and sat down on the couch. “Alright, stockings first?”

“Yes!” Minami grinned and got hers off the hook, sitting down on the couch. “Does she want video evidence of this too?”

“W-Well, she did fill them, so..” Akiteru glanced at Kei, nodding. “So yeah, go ahead and start recording.”

Kei smiled a little and got his phone out, beginning to record. Of course, he got video of her gushing over candy and candy canes, scented candles and lotions that she’d gotten from Nozomi, and a new phone case from Akiteru. Not the thing that he knew Akiteru was waiting for her to find. 

Minami smiled and dug around in the bottom. “Oh, what’s this?”

Akiteru sucked in a breath and clasped his hands together as she pulled the ring box out, her eyes widening as she looked at it. While she was distracted, he got down on one knee in front of her and took her hand. “Minami..”

“Yes.” She said quickly, causing him to laugh. 

“Can I ask first? I had.. a sort of speech..” He smiled sheepishly. When she nodded, he continued. “I.. well, you know my life didn’t come together until recently.. Who knew teaching would be my thing?” Akiteru beamed brighter at her, tears dripping down his face. “But, the best thing that could have ever happened to me, was you, and I don’t want anyone else, ever, for the rest of my life except you.” He took the box from her hands and opened it, eliciting a soft gasp from her. The ring was beautiful, not too much, a simple gold band, but Minami was crying anyway. “Minami Nagai, will you marry me?”

Minami nodded, pushing off the couch and tackling him to the floor, locking lips with him as Kei put his phone away. He didn’t need to get that part, and he was 99.9 percent sure that meant a yes. As he watched his brother slip the ring on his now fiancée’s finger, he realized that love didn’t come around everyday. Kei realized he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life wondering what could have been with Yamaguchi, and that he should throw caution to the wind to see what happens. And while he knows he doesn’t love Yamaguchi, he does know he likes him, a lot. So, what the hell was he waiting for?

He stood up quickly, going down to his room and throwing on a sweater and pants, preparing to leave. He was going to go tell him how he felt, right now.

“Kei? What’s wrong, where are you going?” Akiteru asked, having long since wiped his happy tears and was now holding his fiancée tightly against him. 

“I’m going to tell Yamaguchi how I feel about him, I’m not wasting anymore time.” He wrapped his scarf around his neck, the scarf that Yamaguchi had returned to him what seemed like months ago, and smiled a bit to himself. This was happening. “Sorry to be leaving you two.”

“Are you kidding? We’re coming with you dummy! Akiteru, we need to dress warm!” Minami ushered him down to their room and, with surprising speed, managed to be out in less than ten minutes. She marched outside and started brushing the snow off the car, hopping in the driver’s side. “Well?”

Kei stood outside the passengers side, glancing to Akiteru. This wasn’t really how he had seen his declaration of his feelings going.

Akiteru shot him a sheepish look. “We don’t have to—“

“No, it’s okay, let’s go.” Kei got in and buckled himself up. “Lets do this.”

“Hell yeah!” Minami grinned and started the car, backing out and tearing off down the road. The roads were salted and plowed at least, but it didn’t mean Kei didn’t hang on for dear life. Minami was an.. eccentric driver, she liked to go fast and she liked to get where she was going. Akiteru was used to it, so he wasn’t phased when she took a sharp turn and merely just leaned to the side while Kei got the side of his face smashed up against the window, no matter how tightly he held on. “Ow! Minami, can’t you go a little slower?”

“My bad, I thought we were in a hurry.” Her tone was sharp, but she wore a smile. “Don’t you wanna confess to your boy toy?”

Kei groaned and slumped down in his seat. “Yes..”

She took another turn, humming. “Then let me do my thing, future brother-in-law, where did you say he lived again?”

He pulled his phone out and took a deep breath. “Hold on.” He dialed his number and called him, holding said breath when Yamaguchi answered. “Hello?”

“Hey.”

 

***

 

The two had talked for a few minutes before Kei decided that switching to text was better (so that Akiteru and Minami couldn’t eavesdrop), and also so his address could be there, right in front of him. 

He apologized in advance, but Yamaguchi reassured him that they were done with gifts anyway, which made him feel a little better. Yamaguchi said they’d talk more in depth when he arrived, but they did ask each other how their Christmases went, and it was then that Kei realized that he hadn’t opened his own gifts. But he didn’t care, at least not right then. 

While Minami tried to hype him up, Kei couldn’t help but start feeling his chest seize up when they got into Yamaguchi’s neighborhood, and then finally to his house. Yamaguchi was waiting outside, and he still had his glasses, god he was adorable. He got out of the car slowly and adjusted his glasses as he walked towards him, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Hi, sorry again.”

“Oh, it’s okay.” Yamaguchi smiled nervously at him. “So.. you’re here.”

“Yeah, I am.” Kei sighed, opening his mouth. “I have to—“

“I need to tell you—“

Kei blinked. “Oh, you can go first.”

“No, it’s okay!” Yamaguchi smiled. “I insist.”

“Okay.. well, Yamaguchi, I just wanted to.. to say, that I have developed very strong feelings for you.” Kei blushed, hiding his face behind his scarf. “Romantic ones.” He mumbled, his eyes widening when he felt a hand in his. He looked up to see Yamaguchi smiling widely at him, his cheeks going pink. “What are you—“

“I like you too, Tsukki! That’s what I’ve been trying to say, but I could never say it before and then things got really messed up and I love rambling when I run out of things to say.” Yamaguchi chuckled softly. “Sorry, about that by the way.”

“But.. what about Yachi?”

“She’s just my friend,” Yamaguchi smiled and squeezed his hand. “I’m not with her because I.. Well, I really like you..”

Kei could feel his heartbeat begin to quicken, especially when he stepped towards her. “Really?” He said softly, feeling a glimmer of hope.

“Mhm, yes sir..” He whispered and reached up, stroking his cheek. “I really do.”

“..I’m gonna need you to shut up and kiss me, right now.” Kei gulped and put his hands on his cheeks, causing Yamaguchi to blush even brighter. “If, that’s okay.”

“It is!” Yamaguchi blushed and leaned forward, kissing him softly. 

His lips were really soft, not that he expected any less of Yamaguchi, but damn was he good at kissing. He should just keep him, thankfully that’s the plan. Neither made a move to pull away, so they just held each other and kissed, while Akiteru and Minami, who merely watched in interest. 

It was also then when Risa introduced herself, and them to her. “So, would you like to stay for dinner?”

Minami grinned. “Yes! I wanna see how this ends.”

**Author's Note:**

> Just so anyone’s not confused, as far as college majors go:  
> Yamaguchi: Visual Arts  
> Yachi: Filmmaker/Film Studies  
> Hinata: Physical Education  
> Kenma: Marine Biology  
> Tsukishima: Sports Medicine  
> Kuroo: Veterinarian  
> Bokuto: Physical Education  
> Kageyama: Sports Medicine  
> Akaashi: Psychology  
> Oikawa: English (wants to be a poet)  
> Iwaizumi: English (wants to be a journalist)  
> Tanaka: Sports Management  
> Nishinoya: Physical Therapy (they both work as baristas part time!)  
> Daichi, Suga, and Kiyoko: Student teachers


End file.
